Archive for December, 2012

Megan Fox is definitely one of the foxiest new mums we’ve seen all year – unfortunately, that isn’t stopping her from feeling self-conscious about her body. The 26-year-old new mum has said that the paparazzi won’t be catching her in a bikini any time soon, as she doesn’t want to embarrass her child when he’s older!

Megan could be sugar-coating the truth a little, as we all know that the strains of childbirth can leave marks on the body. It’s possible that Megan is just feeling a little self-conscious of her new, post-birth tummy – which is of course, completely normal! None of us are used to it when we see the new wrinkles and lines that weren’t there before!

Whether Megan decides to opt for a little nip and a tuck to get her body back in bikini shape, we’ll have to wait and see. Tummy tucks are one of the most popular procedures for new mums, and they’re just what’s needed to get your young tum looking supple and stretchy, like it once did!

Obviously, Megan is still completely gorgeous – with or without any operation – so if she wants to take her motherhood naturally, that’s OK with us!

It’s nearly 2013: and we’re all getting ready to make our resolutions. You know the ones – healthy eating, regular exercise, no more Friday night bottles of wine. It’s the New Year, and 2014 is the time for a Brand New You.

The new year is an excellent time to make all of those decisions and commitments that we just put off the rest of the year. I like to think of it as a 12-month project; some projects might take a little longer than 12 months, but setting realistic goals and not being too hard on yourself if you don’t always meet them is important at this time of year.

Losing a few stone, going to the gym once a week – these are all things that we can do without disturbing our daily routines too much. Of course, if those pounds just aren’t dropping off, then there are other ways to become a Brand New You in the new year. A lot of people start looking into cosmetic surgery at this time of year, and it’s not a bad idea; getting your surgery done now means that by summer your body will be all ready for beaches, bikinis and parties!

Have you got any New Year’s resolutions for 2013? Why not let us know what they are – maybe we can all keep each other feeling motivated and positive as we welcome in the new year! Anyway, we’ll catch you up in 2013 – until then, Happy New Year!

It’s Christmas Day, and we’d like to wish every single one of our readers a huge MERRY CHRISTMAS from everyone here at Secret Surgery. We hope you’ve all got the day off and are looking forward to a delicious dinner with turkey, gravy, pigs in blankets and all the trimmings!

This time of year is for looking back on the year we’ve had – 2013 – and looking ahead to what’s to come. 2013 has been a fantastic year for Secret Surgery, and we’ve seen many happy patients come through our doors, and we’ve already got lots of bookings for new patients in 2014 – and we look forward to meeting every one of them!

2013 has been made fantastic for us by all of you – and we sincerely hope that we’ve managed to make 2013 a little better for some of you, too. We completed tummy tucks, thigh lifts, boob jobs, nose jobs, breast reductions… you name it, we’ve done it! The year has been an experience and a half, and we hope we’ll be helping even more of you through these operations next year, too!

That’s it – we won’t keep you any longer today – so go off and enjoy your Christmas dinner!

Some of our regular readers may remember that this past weekend was our Secret Surgery VIP Xmas Trip in Wroclaw, Poland. Unfortunately, the trip is now over, and we’re all back to our usual lives – worrying about what to make for Christmas dinner and going back to work in the New Year.

However, we are pleased to announce that the trip was a complete success! You can even read about the experiences of one of our VIPs here – an NHS nurse who came along to find out more about the facilities and treatments offered by Secret Surgery. She loved her time with us, and said that “The lengths that Angela Chouhaib and her team go to maximise patient comfort and safety is nothing more than outstanding.” Which, of course, we are very pleased with indeed!

The meals out around some of Wroclaw’s top restaurants were absolutely delicious, and everybody who came along on the trip was a pleasure to meet – we were so pleased to put faces to the names of some of our readers, and meet new people interested in discussing the ins and outs of what we do on a daily basis!

We can confirm: the Secret Surgery VIP Trip was a storming success, and it absolutely made my Christmas. I’ll very much be looking forward to the next VIP Trip, so keep your eyes peeled for more… maybe next year, ladies?

You wouldn’t think it to look at her, but Judy Sheindlin – also knows as Judge Judy on a popular reality court show that you can catch on ITV2 in the UK – is actually 70 years old. Whatever she’s having – I want some of it!

Recent photographs taken on the beach show Judge Judy looking better than ever; we don’t know whether she’s indulged in a little cheeky cosmetic surgery in the past few years, but if she has – it’s definitely worked. Otherwise, she must be doing a lot of working out; she looks better than half the Bond babes from the 60s!

She’s also mother to five children, which means that a tummy tuck and a breast lift could well have been instrumental in getting her that stunning beach body. At 70, she looks better than I’m sure I will at 50 – so here’s to her! Good on ya, Judy, however you managed to look so good!

So the VIP weekend to Wroclaw was nothing more than a booze up with woman who were not intelligent enough to research the surgery/surgeons they were having?? …………. Well where on earth was i, as this is a total contrast to the weekend i attended!

I attended the trip as Angela thought it important for her aftercare nurses to see first hand the facilities at EMC and the standards of treatment that Secret Surgery patients expect to recieve. She invited us along and had planned a very regimented itinary in order to maximise the knowledge and experiences we would share with the polish team and recieve in return.

Our trip included a visit to the hospital, meeting patients who were more than happy for us to attend whilst they were reviewed, checked for pain levels and had their dressings renewed. One thing i thought when i saw the wound dressing change was how exceptional the emphasis on wound cleansing was compared to the standards i have seen in public practice.

I was impressed to see that instead of leaving dressings on for days on end, or not even having a dressing……..the wounds were managed on a daily basis. This is primarily the reason that EMC has a Zero infection rate. We discussed the use of wound swabs for MRSA etc, and was pleased to here that they also are very strict in poland and will not take chances with anyone that could potentially have an infection. They would rather postpone someones surgery than risk cross contamination from another source.

EMC Hospital

Safety first is very much the impression i was left with. The surgeon Dr W was very impressed that as UK nurses we were interested enough to give up our time to go along to meet him, his team and tour the facilities. It gave us an insight and a first hand look at how professional the packages are run. When you initially think of surgery abroad, you think of cut price must mean cut safety and cut care. The total opposite is true in the case of secret surgery. The lengths that Angela Chouhaib and her team go to maximise patient comfort and safety is nothing more than outstanding.

The patients are chauferred to the hospital daily for their dressing changes, in constant telephone contact for support mentally, as well as all the physical care. Dr W has very strict guidelines on how surgery is assessed. For example, if you went to him asking for ridicolously sized breasts for your frame, he would assess your whole body, and would not do something that would leave you looking like a freak of nature, despite the obvious financial reward. He also has protocols that mean no one will be able to access more than one major surgery in one hospital visit. It is these strict protocols…………safety and comfort over money, that mean the hospital currently has a zero mortality rate. How many institutions can boast that??

What the sun journalists failed to mention amongst many things was the lengths Secret surgery go to, in order to make the whole process as smooth as possible and as anxiety reducing as possible. As a bariatric patient myself having had both gastric bypass and lower body lift on the NHS in the UK, i know only too well how extremely stressful the whole process is. Not only stressful for the patient but for the loved ones aswell. Angela included a service that can cater for a companion to keep the patients company, and offers them just as much support mentally as the client recieves. This is again an example of the extra mile that secret surgery goes.

We enjoyed meals together in relaxing restuarants, not the drunken nights that the sun portrayed us to have. I mean for goodness sake, some people had just had major surgery……..they would hardly be up to drinking poland dry!! i enjoyed half a glassof wine on the last evening, and other than that drank coke and water, as did almost everyone else. We enjoyed a shopping trip to the Renoma shopping centre which was primarily led by Tracy who gave us valuable advice on how to dress our new found figures and how to look after the inner person that maybe is still struggling with the effects that obesity left. Sadly Jennifer the journalist showed little or no interest in talking to any of us about our journies.

Jennifer Tippet – The Sun Journalist

We had so many stories ready to share, but she wandered around the shops looking at boots and jumpers for herself and took no notice of us all. It was very dissapointing on sunday evening when both jennifer and mike did not bother to attend the extensive traditional polish buffet that had been laid on at the very exclusive Pod Freda restuarant, rudely leaving Angela to pay the bill !!

This was the last opportunity for them to do the interviews that they were there to do, but sadly work took priority, or so we thought. Facebook pictures of site seeing at the time reflected how honest they were. Not only was the report in the sun, totally unfactual & unsubstantiated, it was also very insulting and demeaning. The people that were on that trip for surgery had done months and months of research, talking to surgical teams around the world, and asking millions of questions. Everyday they post in the facebook groups of both secret surgery and Weight loss surgery friends which have become a community themselves. The support that is given and recieved is unending and given with care and compassion.

There isnt a question that Angela does not answer!I agree there will be some people out there that probably spend 5 minutes and will choose the cheapest most convienient company and not even realise what they were getting into. Secret surgery clients however are nothing like that. They are simply not allowed to be for a start. Angela and the team ENSURE that their clients are well informed of ALL risks involved. They have infact turned people away that have had unrealistic expectations of surgery and the results. When Secret Surgery clients give consent for surgery, then it is 100% informed consent.

I am a trained nurse, i would under no circumstances risk losing my pin number for a company that i wasnt sure would be totally legally and ethically moral. I think the sun report tainted what was a very special weekend.

I attended the Xmas VIP Trip that was featured in The Sun Newspaper…..

There is nothing cheap about making life changing decision about yourself, you can’t put a price on happiness, but you can put a value on it, and the value for money you get from Surgery in Poland with Secret Surgery is absolutely outstanding.

The hospital where you have surgery is a modern day version of the Ritz but cleaner! I hate hospitals and I didn’t even know I was in a hospital as it looked like a very smartly run hotel. I was also privileged enough to be able to sit in on a consultation. Dr W and Aga communicated very effective and compassionately. These women are here because they want help and in my line of business it doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside its how you feel on the inside. If you are considering surgery abroad I couldn’t recommend Secret Surgery enough.

The Sun portrayed a completely wrong image for surgery abroad and for some reason report misconceptions in order to sell papers. Surely you would sell more papers if readers were sure in the knowledge they contained the truth, facts and not exaggerated misconceptions or twisted interpretations. The Sun newspaper reporter misrepresented the seriousness of friendships made and professionalism of Secret Surgery and made the whole weekend sound like a cattle show.

This is my story… the truth!

I arrived in Poland and it was magical. It had been snowing for a few days previously and as we headed off to the Christmas market I bumped into a patient that had surgery 1 day earlier. She was enjoying the mulled wine at the Christmas market with another patient. You wouldn’t believe she had just had surgery and was really enjoying her time. Unfortunately she couldn’t have another surgery she had booked for as she had arrived in Poland suffering from Laryngitis. Dr W said he didn’t want to perform the surgery due to risk of cross infection and wouldn’t take the responsibility if there was an issue with her airway while under general anesthetic. Where else would you get turned away from a private medical company? The fact that the surgeon was unwilling to take the risk in putting the patient in danger just over a sore throat showed true professionalism. The Secret Surgery Client was more than happy undergoing one non-invasive part of her surgery and only slightly disappointed that she couldn’t have her main surgery done as she had no doubts in rebooking for another time as they insisted her health was paramount.

That evening when we arrived at the restaurant for our meal, I met another lady who had come out of hospital that day. She had a tummy tuck and was well enough to join us for an evening meal. These women were amazing. It proves that you can have surgery and when the after care is second to none problems are few and far between. Whilst at the evening meal, which I must add, was a top notch restaurant with Ritz style food and perfect portion control, I began to speak to many other ladies that were there on a personal journey. Face lifts, nose jobs, lipo, gastric bypasses, tummy tucks, reconstructive surgery and they all want to look good, sometimes after a long emotional or physical battle. And why not? If its affordable then you can’t put a price on true happiness and in a safe environment like the EMC Hospital in Poland to me it’s a no brainer. So to celebrate the 2nd year of Secret Surgery, these ladies are an inspiration and I am in absolute awe of them and hold a credit to these wonderful inspiring ladies.

The weekend was a celebration of how amazing Secret Surgery is. None of us were there for a boozy filled weekend and being signed up for more surgery, these ladies wanted to be there for themselves. There was no sales pitch and there wasn’t even any mention of cost! Out of 30 ladies, 10 ladies had a consultation for future work, unfortunately some of it was corrective surgery from incorrect procedures taken place in the UK and they travelled there to get a consultation as they felt they could trust Secret Surgery more than private UK hospitals.

No one signs up for surgery without careful consideration and a flippant remark about taking less time to choose bathroom tiles is insulting to both the patients and the medical team in Poland.

Yes there is a risk with surgery, but there is a risk with every kind of procedure, whether it is done in the UK or abroad, and I feel that the ladies were manipulated by the Sun and words definitely put into people’s mouths.

Why would you report that a 17 year old had a consultation for a nose job when it’s clearly not true? And why not mention that some of the people on t he VIP trip were there from the NHS and are part of the after care team based in the UK?

I found the whole report irritating and uncalled for, and I want to make my point. I never intend on having surgery as it’s not for me, BUT I would recommend Secret Surgery and Angel Chouaib, her services and her team to everyone thinking about having it done. Infact I already have recommended Secret Surgery to many people.

Changing how you look to make yourself feel better is not a bad thing at all, it will make you happy and will help you save lives. One lady that was due to have a procedure after having her scan in Poland was found to have cancer! This was NOT picked up in the UK. Fortunately she was treated for this and was able to return and to have her surgery after recovery.

Dr W is a wonderful man with a great sense of humor, the photos of him and his team around the hospital can just see what a marvelous man he truly is. He also attended of the evening meals, but didn’t drink and left before the main course came out as he had surgery in the morning and took his responsibility very seriously. I think the Sun reporter again, misinterpreted everyone’s merriment to drink rather than atmosphere and fun.

I am truly amazed at the beautiful people I have meet this weekend and wish you all well, and think we need to rise above the misinterpretation that have been reported in The Sun newspaper. Secret Surgery is amazing, the founder is amazing, her team is amazing and the hospital is amazing.

Good luck to everyone who is having surgery and taking action about how to feel good about themselves, I truly met some wonderful friends this weekend and I can’t wait to do it all again next year.